The Management of Cultural Capital to Increase Competitiveness: Khongkong Market, Phranakhon Si Ayutthaya Province

Abstract

This is a qualitative research which the objective is to study the cultural capital management processes in order to increase the competitiveness of the Khongkong market, Phranakhon Si Ayutthaya province. The key informants were 18 market executives and vendors in the market. Research instruments were semi-structured interview. The data were collected by using in-dept interview in cooperation with non-participant observation and checked data reliability by using data triangulation. The verbatim and the content analysis were employed for analyzing and concluding the data. The research results were presented in a descriptive method.

The research found that the cultural capital of Khongkong Market consists of 5 aspects which are 1) history 2) the root of the old city 3) Thai architecture 4) local culture and 5) way of life. The management of cultural capital to increase competitiveness consists of 3 steps which are 1) searching for cultural capital, 2) creating products from cultural capital, and 3) adding value to cultural capital. The most important thing in each step is participation of people in the community and cooperation from agencies outside the community. The success of the cultural capital management of Khongkong Market allows the market to maintain its identity as an ancient market and to continue operating in the midst of intense competition.